The Congressional Services

The Pennsylvania Railroad's regional Congressional was in some ways a truncated version of its Senator, a train operating all of the way to Boston. The Northeast services were also known by other names and offered perhaps the preeminent way for
commuters, business interests, and local travelers to make their way to
and from the Northeast's largest cities. Today,
of course, Amtrak provides these services although they are not quite the same as in the PRR era when passengers
were treated as royalty and trains were filled with on board amenities
and accommodations. The Congressionals slowly declined into the
1960s, especially under the Penn Central. They initially remained under Amtrak but were gone within a few years.

The
origins of the Pennsy's regional service along the Northeast
Corridor, between our nation's capital and New York City, dates back to the
Congressional Limited Express, a train inaugurated in 1885.
From an early date the PRR learned the value of offering fast, local
service for commuters, which was especially true in such a populated
region as the Northeast. During these early years power for the train
was provided by steam and typical intermediate stops included Newark,
New Brunswick, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Perryville, and
Baltimore (this changed little over the years). The first real change
for the Congressional Limited Express occurred during the
1920s when the Pennsylvania announced it would be
upgrading the corridor to full electrified status and adding hourly
stops along the route.

Still, while the 1930s saw the PRR complete its electrification project, the fast and reliable GG1 electrics
were introduced, and streamliners hit the rails (in 1934) the railroad
was reluctant to spend vast amounts of capital on the latter outside of
its long distance runs like the Broadway Limited (appropriately
dubbed as its "Fleet of Modernism"). Interestingly, even the much
smaller Reading Railroad delved into the streamliner fad when in 1937 it
introduced the Crusader between Philadelphia and Jersey City (in
conjunction with the Central Railroad of New Jersey) serving the exact same market as
the PRR.
It's safe to say the new equipment and upgraded services this
train offered probably stole away a bit of the Pennsylvania's traffic
base, at least for a short time.

(The below Congressional timetable is dated effective September of 1952.)

Read Down Time/Leave (Train #153)

Milepost

Location

Read Up
Time/Arrive (Train #124)

4:30 PM (Dp)

0.0

New York, NY (Pennsylvania Station) (ET)

11:55 AM (Ar)

4:44 PM

10.0

Newark, NJ

11:40 AM

58.1

Trenton, NJ

10:54 AM

5:50 PM

85.9

North Philadelphia, PA (North Philadelphia Station)

10:27 AM

5:59 PM

91.4

Philadelphia, PA (30th Street Station)

10:17 AM

6:25 PM

118.1

Wilmington, DE

9:48 AM

150.3

Perryville, MD

9:16 AM

7:24 PM

186.5

Baltimore, MD

8:41 AM

8:05 PM (Ar)

226.6

Washington, DC (Union Station)

8:00 AM (Dp)

After seeing the success of the streamliner during the 1940s the PRR finally decided to spend considerable money on purchasing new equipment for its Northeastern services. In 1951 it placed an order with the Budd Company for 64 new cars, which gave the railroad two trainsets each for each train. In terms of the Congressional this meant there would be a Morning and Afternoon daily run. The new cars
were a stunning change from the old heavyweight equipment used for
years and gleamed in their fluted stainless steel, Tuscan red pinstripe,
and gold lettering. While today's regional commuter trains offer
little more in the way of amenities aside from a snackbar this was not
the case with the Pennsy's service.

The trains' interior featured decors matching the region in which they served; tasteful colors of red,
white, and blue. Just as with the Senator a typical consist for the Congressionals included a parlor car,
bar lounge, coffee shop tavern, diner, and an observation-bar-lounge.
It was top-notch service with an incredible offering splendid dining services. According to Mike Schafer and Joe Welsh in their book, "Streamliners: History of a Railroad Icon," some choices from the menu included charbroiled steak and the Pennsy's legendary
raisin pie. This, of course, did not include light snacks and beverages
that were generally always available. Additionally, the PRR took great effort
in tailoring the train to business travelers by offering comfortable
seating and a seven-room conference car for meetings.

Overall, no
other railroad could match the Pennsylvania for regional service in the
Northeast.
The Morning and Afternoon Congressional
remained a regular service throughout the 1950s
and 1960s despite a loss of ridership as regional airlines and new interstates drove patronage away. Service continued to
decline through the Penn Central era after 1968, particularly as the
company eroded away into the 1970s. With the start-up of Amtrak on May 1, 1971 the Congressionals initially remained on the timetable. However, by the middle of the decade the name had been discontinued.

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